Songs of the Return
by SinfulFox
Summary: A five-volume original tale based on Norse mythology, which chronicles the Nidhogg's liberation from its imprisonment within the roots of Yggdrasil, and the consequences it may have on the realms as the Dragon leaves a trail of hatred and vengeance across the skies.
1. Vol 1: Says the Dragon to the Squirrel

**"Songs of the Return"**  
_Volume 1: Says the Dragon to the Squirrel_

A five-volume chronicle of Nidhogg's liberation and the consequences it will bring to the realms; an original tale based on Norse mythology.

It will also serve as a prologue for future stories involving my character, Alice Stryker, who is based on the Norse figure Nidhoggr.

* * *

The great tree, whose branches extended across the heavens and pierced each of the nine realms, seemed to quake and quiver with tension. Yggdrasil's bark shuddered and its leaves recoiled, and the animals that dwelled within the tree whimpered and hid within their dens and nests.

Only Ratatosk, the young squirrel who ran along the branches, delivering messages to the tree's celestial inhabitants, was unafraid. He was barely short of rejoicing, for he seemed to know what others couldn't see. Scampering with a mixture of eagerness and anxiety, he raced down the trunk, descending into the frozen underworld of Niflheim before reaching Yggdrasil's roots.

The thick, winding, knotted roots were frayed from gnawing teeth and ripped apart by sharp claws. The roots had been responsible for holding a terrible, powerful being at bay - an undead dragon as old as the tree itself; a monster that fed on the corpses of the dead as they passed into the afterlife; a Devil that would fly across the realms with death on its wings and beckon the End Times, should it ever escape Yggdrasil's grasp; the Nidhogg.

Nidhogg was gone.

The squirrel's body shook and shivered with both excitement and dread, for he suddenly wondered if his unlikely friend would truly bring Ragnarok to the worlds. After all, it was the prophecy, but perhaps prophecies aren't always inevitable.

A soft growl rumbled behind Ratatosk and he nearly jumped out of his skin, before turning around to the face of the great dragon itself. Its piercing, amethyst eyes and long, jagged claws had been much less intimidating when they belonged to a trapped creature. Nidhogg's long, slender, serpentine body was coated with smooth, shimmering, ice-like scales. Its massive jaws inched closer to the little rodent, who dared not move a muscle as he gazed at the free Devil.

**"Ratatosk."** A deep, low voice flowed from behind hundreds of sharp teeth, and despite having spent the last hundred thousand years speaking to the dragon, the squirrel was slightly frightened by the voice's power. **"You have been a good friend to me. You have shown me kindness and kinship while others only offer hatred and fear."**

Suddenly his own fears left him, having been reassured of the dragon's true character. "You're finally free! What will you do now?"

**"That's what everyone is dying to know, isn't it."** Nidhogg was silent for a moment, its maw curling slowly into a snarl. **"They want a monster..."**

Ratatosk winced at the fierce beast's snarling face, thankful that he was no enemy. "So you're going to give it to them?" He blinked for a moment, thinking as the great dragon growled. His eyes darted around before returning to Nidhogg. "You finally escape and you're going to go prove everyone right?"

Bark spattered out as claws struck against the tree, just to the squirrel's side. _**"They call me a Devil!"**_ The earth-shattering shout echoed through Niflheim. **"Their prophecies are meaningless and yet I have spent eternity trapped in their shadows, watching life sprout and grow and evolve around me. And they have spent that eternity mocking me, defaming me, casting me as their Devil."** Its claws scraped down the trunk, carving out curly strips of wood as it spoke. **"All I've ever wanted is to escape this wretched hell, but to what? A universe where my freedom is everyone's worst nightmare?"**

The unflinching Ratatosk watched as the creature's inner turmoil began to boil over. "Then show them otherwise."

Nidhogg retracted its claws and stepped back. **"Not before giving them hell."** Large, feathered wings suddenly fanned out over the realm and with a single, powerful flap, the dragon was gone, leaving behind its very unsettled friend at Yggdrasil's base.


	2. Vol 2: A Cry to the Moon

**"Songs of the Return"**  
_Volume 2: A Cry to the Moon_

* * *

Over the realms and through the stars flew the great dragon Nidhogg, at last freed from its imprisonment within the roots of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. The rage and resentment towards the world had finally festered into a nasty, relentless bloodlust within the beast, and it had become too blinded by vengeance to realize the tragic irony; it was becoming the very monster everyone feared it to be.

The fearsome, undead dragon whose smooth scales sparkled like ice soared across the dark velvet sky, but came to an abrupt halt when a dark figure stepped into its path. A large wolf, its black pelt speckled with starlight and dazzled by the moon's illumination, stopped the mighty beast.

"So you are Nidhogg." The wolf spoke with a soft but stern voice. "I heard you might be gracing my sky tonight. What brings you to cross the face of my Moon?"

The dragon recoiled slightly, having never been stopped or questioned. **"I'm sure you've heard the prophecy. That should tell you the answer."**

The canine scoffed quietly. "The prophecy said you'd carry corpses in your wings, and yet I see none."

Nidhogg growled and snorted. **"So you don't believe it?"**

"I believe I asked you what you are doing."

_**"I'm going to lay waste to Asgard."**_

"To show them you aren't the monster they fear?" The wolf grinned. "I know you, Nidhogg. You're nothing like they say."

The dragon snarled and lept forward. **"You know nothing about me!"**

"You're wrong." He spoke calmly. "I watch over the night skies, as my brother watches over day. My brother sees what the rest see - a snarling, angry, powerful monster who should be sealed away to rot for eternity."

Nidhogg's muscles tensed, but it remained silent.

"And yet when he disappears over the horizon, as I rise, I see something very different. As the night sets in, I see the animals return to their homes, their families, their warmth and love. And I see a creature, utterly alone and sentenced for a crime they may never commit. They may see you roar, but I see you cry. Do you forget how many times you have cried to the moon?"

Nidhogg remained silent.

"I don't believe the prophecy. I believe we carve our own paths, armed with the purpose of our choosing. And you, Nidhogg, need only choose if you want to be a monster."

After a long moment of silence, the dragon finally spoke, very softly. **"I'm already a monster. That was decided a long time ago."**

"No. That choice is yours alone to make."

Its tail twitched with agitation, its body becoming rigid, its growl returning. **"My choice? And what of you, did you choose to take the darkness of the night while your brother brings warmth and light to the world? Do you choose for your brother to revel in life while you sit to watch the world sleep?"**

The wolf's ears flattened as he too growled back to the dragon. "No, I didn't choose my place, as you didn't choose yours. But I chose what to do with it, I chose my purpose. I chose not to resent the world, nor my brother. It took time for me to realize that, but I did and I made the choice." His ears perked up as he stepped forward. "Now you have a choice to make."

Nidhogg's wings stretched out once more and lifted the dragon. **"Enjoy the darkness,"** it taunted as it flew past the wolf.

As it passed, the wolf sighed. "I don't want to see you cry anymore, Nidhogg."

For a brief, fleeting moment, as the great dragon pushed onwards, its eyes softened.


End file.
